On Friday,
February 17, 2006, six year old Hunter Kaiser (boy with Teddy Bear) and
his mother, Lisa (behind Hunter), met with Sheriff Louis Rosandich
(left) and the EMTís who responded to a February 2 medical emergency
callóone that because of Hunterís courage, calmness, and knowledge of
9-1-1 saved his mother from possible death. Hunter has been nominated
by the Clark County Sheriffís Department for a heroism award through the
Wisconsin Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs Association.

Six-Year-Old Thorp Boy Saves Mom

The time was 4:02 p.m., and a small,
scratchy, but calm voice came over the line. "Clark County Emergency 9-1-1
Dispatch," the female voice responded. "Nobodyís here Ďcept my mom, and she
just goes ehhhhhhh," the little voice said.

Although it took Dispatcher Louise
Hackel a few seconds to understand the young caller when he dialed Clark
Countyís 9-1-1 line Thursday, February 2, she quickly knew that this was a
different sort of call, one with which she needed to take special care. This
was, in fact, six-year-old Hunter Kaiser, a kindergarten student at Thorp
Elementary School and son of Michael and Lisa Kaiser of rural Thorp, and he was
indeed calling with an emergency.

"Itís my mom," Hunter told Deputy
Hackel. "I shake her, but she wonít wake up." Again, he replicated the moaning
his mother was making as she laid (layed) still on the living room floor next to
the couch. "I canít give her a Mountain Dew because sheís laying (lying) on the
floor and wonít wake up," he informed the dispatcher, giving her a vital clue
that something was seriously wrong with Mom and it could be related to diabetes.

Deputy Hackel continued to pull bits
and pieces of essential information from Hunterís perspective as he came off the
bus after school to find his mother in a diabetic coma and unresponsiveóthat she
was still warm and that she took shots and needed sugar sometimes. "But,"
Hunter explained, still calm, "I donít know how to test her blood." Hackel
began working the other end of the emergency call as she kept Hunter on the
line; she had her partner dispatch the closest deputy, who just happened to be
Thorpís Scott Strzok, an experienced officer who is coincidentally an EMT for
Thorp Ambulance and had just checked in from his home moments away.

As Deputy Strzok sped to the Kaiser
home, dispatch called upon the services of the Thorp Ambulance volunteersóthis
time, EMTís Kert Boie and Dan Schultze and driver Theresa Anderson. Strzok
arrived nine minutes after Hunter first dialed 9-1-1, with Deputy Hackel
preparing the child that it was safe to open the door for the police officer.
Indeed, Mom was laying (lying) unresponsive on the floor. EMTís came in the
door four minutes later, finding a calm child ready to answer questions.

Lisa Kaiserís blood sugar was
dangerously low, and Boie and Schultze immediately prepared a glucagons shot,
something they had ironically just reviewed at their final EMT refresher class
three days before. "It made the whole month worthwhile," Boie later smiled,
admitting the fact that EMTís have to take many hours out of their free time to
keep up with skills. Ones like glucagons administration are rarely used yet, as
this case proved, can be lifesaving.

"As soon as we walked in the door,
Hunter had the phone in his hand and he showed me right where the 9-1-1 sticker
was," Boie added. "He was watching us, intent, the whole time and was very
calm. I was shocked to find out he was only six years old."

Hunter watched as EMTís did their
job, giving his mother the medication her body craved and preparing for the
ensuing trip to the hospital. As Theresa helped him get situated in the front
seat, Boie and Schultze loaded Lisa into the back of the ambulance. Theresa
switched on the lights and siren as Hunter helped tell the driver where to
turn. At the hospital, the attending doctor told Hunter that he saved his momís
live by calling 9-1-1 when he did.

On Friday, February 17, 2006, Clark
County Sheriff Louis Rosandich presented Hunter Kaiser with a special teddy bear
whom Hunter promptly named after himself, Hunter Michael Kaiseróa bear
anonymously donated by an anonymous friend of the Sheriffís department who has
since passed away. "He wanted his bear collection to go for children who have
gone through a traumatic experience like this one" Rosandich explained,
obviously touched by Hunterís bravery. "When you listen to the call, itís just
fantastic," he adds, "You hear that he knew what to do." Rosandich, along with
his deputies and staff at the Clark County Sheriffís Department, have nominated
Hunter Kaiser for the Wisconsin Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs Associationís
yearly heroism award. "We feel our nominationófor this award is a good honor
for Hunter," the sheriff explained, shaking the childís little hand.

Meanwhile, Lisa Kaiser sits
protectively nearby her young son, understanding full well that he saved her
life with his knowledge of 9-1-1 and is deserving of all this new attention.
"With me being a diabetic," she says, "you never know whatís going to happen. I
didnít want Hunter to find me, be afraid, and run upstairs and hide."
Therefore, Lisa and Michael showed Hunter how to dial 9-1-1 and have 9-1-1
stickers placed strategically near their telephones. "Heís pretty smart and I
knew it, but I was still surprised that he knew that he needed to call when he
saw me."

Deputy Hackel, whom Hunter got to
visit on his day off school Monday, February 20, says heís the youngest child
she has ever talked to on the emergency line. "It took me a little bit to shift
gears and figure out that this was a young child calling with a medical
emergency for a parent," she said. "Itís usually the other way around."

Hackel, too, should be commended for
her proficiency on the job. She kept a situation calm that could have gotten
out of hand. She managed to gather from the child his motherís condition
without ever making him afraid that Lisa could be near death, or worse.
Together that day, coupled with the response of Deputy Strzok and the volunteers
from Thorp Ambulance, they made quite the life-saving team. As Deputy Hackel
said when it was all over, "This was an exceptional case. Everything worked out
the way it should."